March 15/98 20:33 pm - Canadian in France ,Paris-Nice, Tirreno

Had a short conversation with Heather this evening. She competed in two races on Sunday, in a small town northeast of Nantes, about two hours out of Paris.

First race a 50K point to point, Heather stayed near the front, and went with the break at about 30 K. She did not have any course information, and she said suddenly they rounded a corner and the finish was less than 150 meters away. She wasn't prepared for the sprint, and finshed 7th.

The second race was a lot more interesting. It was 82K in length, and she missed the winning break. She eventually managed to get away from the chase group, and was trying to bridge. She came to a corner while on her own, and the flagman didn't give her any indication of direction. There was a motorcycle in front of her, so she followed. After heading down the road, the motorcyclist indicated they had gone the wrong way. By the time she got back, the chase group had gone, so she finished alone ahead of the rest of the pack.

Overall Heather said she felt good about her fitness level at this point in the season, but the end result was not great. Next weekend she is participating in a 3 day stage race, so she just wants to prepare well and be as ready as possible.

Paris-Nice, France

Note: Somehow we managed to republish the Stage 7 results rather than stage 8 earlier today! Here are the correct final stage and GC results.